Chinese Mandarin Course 1012: Standard

Continue learning Mandarin in this A1 course. Practise dates, time, hobbies and social visits while building vocabulary, grammar and characters. Gain skills to arrange plans, invite friends, introduce people and present personal information
Duration
10 days, 20 hours total
Next date
3 February 2027
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Next class mode
Online via Zoom
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Cost
From $430.00

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Course summary

Level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)

This course covers Integrated Chinese, Volume 1, Lessons 3 to 5, and is taught over ten weekly sessions of two hours per week.

Aims

This course aims to:

  • introduce 108 vocabulary items
  • cover the basics with simple, graded activities on essential topics such as dates and time, hobbies and visiting friends
  • introduce essential grammatical structures
  • concentrate on the four skills of language: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • discuss 108 vocabulary items and recognise around 145 Chinese characters
  • tell and speak about time and dates, talk about their age and birthday
  • invite someone to dinner and arrange a dinner date
  • say and write the terms for basic personal hobbies, ask about someone’s hobbies
  • ask friends out to see a movie, set up plans for the weekend
  • introduce one person to another
  • compliment someone on their house
  • ask for beverages as a guest at someone else’s place, offer beverages to a visitor
  • briefly describe a visit to a friends' place
  • deliver a presentation introducing yourself - date of birth, family members, hobbies, and favourite food and drinks in Chinese, both orally and in written form.

Content

  • Dates and times – taking someone out to eat on his/her birthday and inviting someone to dinner
  • Discussing hobbies, eg would you like to play ball?
  • Visiting friends – visiting a friend’s home and at a friend’s house
  • The adverbs还 (hái) and 才 (cái)
  • The particles吧 (ba) and 了 (le)
  • The conjunction 那么 (nàme)
  • The modal verb 想 (xiǎng)
  • The preposition 在 (zài)
  • Numbers (0, 1–100)
  • Dates and time
  • Word order
  • Alternative questions, affirmative + negative (A-not-A) questions, questions with 好吗 (hǎo ma)
  • 去 (qù) + action
  • Verb + object as a detachable compound
  • 一下 (yí xià) and 一点儿 (yì diǎnr) moderating the tone of voice
  • Adjectives as predicates

Who this course is for

Suitable for A1 level students, those who have completed Chinese Mandarin 101 or who have completed 20 hours of recent tuition.

Delivery style

Delivered in the form of an interactive workshop where active participation is encouraged.

Prescribed text

Both simplified and traditional character versions of the textbook and the two workbooks are available, however the simplified version will be taught in the classroom. You can also opt for the electronic version of materials.

While the textbook is required, the workbook and character workbook are optional.

All books are available in 3rd and 4th editions. If you already own a 3rd edition copy, you're welcome to use it. If not, please purchase the 4th edition.

Textbooks should only be purchased once you receive confirmation from us. This usually occurs three days prior to class commencement.

Suggested textbook supplier

Language Book Centre
languagebooks.com.au

Please note that in some cases, our suggested supplier may not stock your prescribed text. Please check stock availability prior to signing up for any membership.

Upcoming classes

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Meet the facilitators

Fu Xie

Dr Fu Xie received her PhD in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from the City University of Hong Kong in 2014. Over the past fifteen years, Fu Xie has taught all levels of Chinese language in Chinese linguistics and culture in tertiary institutions in Australia, Hong Kong (SAR) and China.

Fu Xie's research interests are in applied linguistics, especially second language acquisition (SLA) and language pedagogy, discourse pragmatics, and Chinese linguistics. She published several journal papers and textbooks, and doing research helped her appreciate the intricacies of the subjects, which made her always seeking inspiration to improve her teaching strategies. Her students are therefore able to strengthen their language competence and keep motivated to continue learning Chinese.

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Xiaowei Wang

Stella (Xiaowei) Wang is an enthusiastic teacher who has taught Mandarin in a number of language schools throughout Sydney, as well as in several primary and secondary international schools in Beijing. Stella has a passion for sharing the Mandarin language and Chinese culture, and loves to see her students' abilities and confidence grow. She works hard to make her classes engaging, interactive, and relevant, going above and beyond to ensure students can apply their knowledge to everyday situations. This is facilitated by fostering a friendly, easy-going classroom environment in which all students are encouraged to speak and take part.

Stella holds both a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from Renmin University in Beijing, China, and a Master of International Communication from Macquarie University. Throughout her university career and due to her cross-cultural experience, Stella has developed an appreciation for all facets of communication, including languages. This experience, combined with her life-long love for sharing knowledge, led her to a career in language teaching. She has since obtained a Certificate IV in LOTE Teaching (Languages Other Than English – Mandarin) from UNSW, and has a wealth of teaching experience, both in China and Australia.

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Cheng-Wei Wang

Cheng-Wei has gathered broad experience teaching Chinese in tertiary institutions. He holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics from UNSW, specialising in the field of Second Language Acquisition. He also holds a Master's degree in Cognitive Psychology from the U.S.

Cheng-Wei's dynamic and engaging teaching style is based on his training and ardent belief in communicative language learning. He embraces state of the art technology within teaching practices and integrates learning materials into communicative tasks. He is sensitive to learners' zones of proximal development and alters his speaking and teaching style accordingly. His students are therefore able to strengthen their language competence and to keep motivated to continue the learning of Chinese in the long run.

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